Stormbender
by Untamed of Wildwind
Summary: Crossover between "H2O: just add water" and "Avatar: the last airbender". Cleo runs off after Lewis gives Charlotte the neclace - she is then transported to the world of avatar. How will a mermaid fit in among the four nations?
1. Chapter 1

This is a crossover between H2O: just add water, and Avatar:

The last airbender. It starts during Sea Change (season 2, episode 25 of H2O) and a little over 100 years before the start of the avatar series.

**Do not expect the story to make sense unless you are familiar with those series!**

* * *

"Lewis you really let me down… I always though that I – you was on my side, and I was on yours. I though deep down… that you… umm… still cared for me. I guess I was wrong."

_I guess I was wrong._

Her last words echoed in her head as she swam.

_I guess I was wrong. You never cared… Lewis._

She swam up, breaking the surface. She was crying.

Cleo raised her hand in frustration, and then hit the surface with it.

"Fine… Have dear _Charlotte_ for all I care!" she shouted to the sky, her words laced with sarcasm and hurt. "See if I care!"

She raised her arms, water rising with them. Normally, she wouldn't have done something like this, risking someone finding out about her powers, but she was beyond caring.

As the power accumulated, Cleo was crying, silently now. With a mighty roar, lightning struck from the clouds gathering above. She had raised a mighty storm.

With a wave of her hand, a vortex of air and water raised her towards the sky, lightning striking like mad around her. Cleo laughed, but it was a laugh of the betrayed, or the insane.

She hung there, in the middle of her self-made storm, for but a moment.

Then she vanished, taking her storm with her.

Only a few small clouds and waves remained.

* * *

Cleo opened her eyes. The sun was shining in her face. And she was in the water… What had happened? Then it all came back. Lewis… and Charlotte… the necklace. Her mad flight into the ocean. The storm…

_The girls must be so worried about me, if I've been out at see the entire night…_

She looked around, but couldn't see any land.

_Might as well start swimming. I wonder which way land is?_

Cleo started swimming towards the sun.

* * *

She swam the quick way, moving the water around her body with her powers. After almost an hour, she started to wonder if she was going in the right direction… As she was about to turn around, she saw land, and a town. She swam towards it, but soon realized, it wasn't her home… It looked like a medieval village, and she knew no place near Australia were people wore such old-looking clothes… Almost robes.

After drying off, out of sight, she walked into the village. She was stared at, and she realized it must be due to her clothes… She looked around for a while, and asked a few innocent questions, such as were she were.

As the sun was going down, she had thought things through.

"I don't think I'm in my world anymore…" she whispered to the setting sun.

_And I have no means of living, either. I suppose…_

"…I'll have to live as a mermaid."

She shuddered… eating raw fishes… Well, what could she do?

Cleo felt very alone.

* * *

She had been living in this world for a few weeks now, and the moon would be full tonight. The cycle seemed to be a little out of sync with her world, as it was about five weeks since the last full moon in her world.

Cleo didn't think it would be a problem. After all, she lived alone in the ocean, and slept on a bare rock in the water. Who could get hurt?

As she gazed upon the moon, climbing up the horizon, she still felt chilled. She closed her eyes. She had feared the effects of the full moon for so long.

_I have nothing left to loose. I will not be afraid! No more!_

She opened her eyes. Nothing happened.

_"This really is a whole new world…" she said quietly. "No moon sickness…"_

As she tried to look away, she couldn't move a muscle. Her gaze was locked to the moon.

I think that was a bit hasty to assume there is no moon sickness…

She suddenly had an irresistible urge to create a storm. She raised her hand, standing on one foot on her small rock. She giggled. Then she started to dance, and the water followed.

Soon she was dancing on a rock in the middle of a stormy ocean, rain and splashes falling everywhere, but never touching her.

As the moon set in the morning, she was amazed by what had happened. She had never had such immense power, or such control of said power, as during that dance of storms, even though the dance hadn't really been her idea.

_Perhaps I can do it again?_

She started to dance, and danced on her rock for hours, in the eye of the storm her dance created.

* * *

The next full moon, during her dance, she decided the rock was too small, and stepped onto the surface of the water. It somehow held for her weight, and she didn't get wet… She kept dancing on the water, the storm dancing with her. She couldn't stop, and didn't want to.

As the moon set, she just kept going – never missing a single step, never resting, never eating. As she danced on the turbulent water, in the heavy winds and rains, lightning bolts flying around her, there was no need to.

During her dance, there was nothing but the dance.

After an unknown length of time, something distracted her. Someone was shouting.

"Help! I'm drowning!"

The brief lapse in attention was enough; Cleo fell into the water, and turned into a mermaid. The storm was still going strong, but now she had no control over it.

Even so, the storm was her responsibility, and she had to save whoever had gotten in trouble in it.

She quickly found the one in trouble. It was a fisherman, and he was rapidly sinking. His boat was wrecked; it had been struck by lightning and fallen apart.

Cleo took the sailor on her back, and started towards the shore, which could be seen on the horizon.

As she put him on the beach and turned to leave, an old weathered lady looked upon her, bowed deeply, and said:

"Thank you, noble spirit. I will never forget what you've done for my son."

Feeling uncomfortable, Cleo answered:

"Do not thank me… It was my fault"

"I still thank you. You saved him, when you could have left him to drown" the lady whispered. "I will never forget"

"Thank you" Cleo whispered back, and took off into the stormy ocean.

_I won't forget either._

* * *

The fisherman's accident didn't stop her storm dances; as soon as a full moon went up, she couldn't resist dancing. She didn't really want to stop either, and didn't stop for many days after a full moon.

From time to time, someone got hurt from her storms. She got very good at feeling when the storm struck a boat, and if someone was drowning, she immediately stopped dancing to save them.

She often got thanks from them or their relatives, and she had gotten known as "the spirit of storms". She didn't mind being thought a spirit. That way, they didn't really blame her. Though as soon as those she saved were safe on land, she left. She didn't want their thanks; she was the one to hurt them in the first place! Still they thanked her, and sometimes gave her some little trinket or some food – always from the ocean.

Still she couldn't stop. The intense focus of the dance was the only thing that made her forget her grief. She missed Emma and Rikki. She missed her family. Most of all she missed Lewis. They were all lost to her.

* * *

She was dancing in icy waters, when she felt something fighting her. Someone was trying to fight her storm, and with power like hers as well. The amazement of that (She wasn't alone in this world!) made her fall, of course. To dance on the water had to have all her attention or she would fall into it.

Pretty soon, she could see the one who had been fighting her. It was someone in a blue coat, standing on a small canoe, doing motions similar to her dance. The other's dance seemed to calm the water – freezing and thawing, and making it calm down.

But the person was soaked, and still had no tail – she couldn't be a mermaid.

Still, after the storm was gone, Cleo followed the canoe in secret.

* * *

She had watched this little village on the ice (probably one of the poles, considering how cold it was) for a few days now. It seemed a number, but far from all, the inhabitants had an amazing control over water and ice. They called it "bending", or specifically "waterbending". She had not seen anyone that controlled anything else, but assumed that there were other types of bending, or calling it _water_bending wouldn't be necessary.

She wanted the control they had. She thought her storm dance (stormbending?) had much more power behind it, but there was little true control in it. Sure, she felt in control, but it was the storms, not hers, not really. Perhaps these waterbenders could teach her control?

She had a plan. She still had her old, wind-pined clothes – the blue-greenish patterned dress and the blue shorts she had worn when she arrived in this world. She also had all the trinkets she had gotten for thanks.

Perhaps the trinkets could be used for payment… if such was required for training.

But she couldn't approach as a mermaid. None of them reacted to water by turning into mermaids, and she didn't want them to react badly to seeing her.

Nor could she dance into the village – as they would likely misstake her for the spirit of storms.

No, she had to go onto land, dry herself with heat – she wasn't good at using Rikki's power, but she could nowadays - and quickly get to the village, before she froze to death. It was really cold out here, on the South Pole. That was were she was, she had overheard the villagers say so.

She also had to remove her trinkets, put them in a little bag she had gotten once – those, too, might seem suspicious.

* * *

Her plan was going pretty well so far. She had gotten into the village, though she was freezing like crazy. As the villagers were helping her to warm up in one of the igloos, she fell asleep, muttering about waterbending. That was not a part of the plan – she had wanted to stay awake to ask them to teach her.

* * *

As Cleo woke up, she was greeted by a foreign voice.

"Good morning"

Cleo jumped at the foreign voice – she had slept alone for the last few years, after all.

"Good morning" she answered with a yawn. "I guess I… umm… fell asleep" She thought she sounded pathetic.

"That, you did, dear" the lady that had greeted her said kindly. It was the woman that fought her storm a few days ago. The waterbender then followed with: "What were you doing out dressed so lightly?"

"I just wished to learn waterbending…" Cleo said, a bit uncertain. She didn't really answer the question "I guess that wasn't the best way to go about it…"

"That was a dangerous way to go about it – but I think you can get what you wanted… " the woman said. "I'll teach you myself, if you still wish to learn"

"You will? Of course I do! Thank you!" Cleo said happily. "Oh… My name's Cleo, by the way"

"And I am Nema" the woman answered. "Nice meeting you, Cleo."

Nema went to the opening of the igloo, but as she was about to exit it, she turned around.

"I won't ask who you are, Cleo. You can tell me in your own time, if you wish too. I believe you will be an excellent student"

* * *

Nema had been right about Cleo's bending capabilities. Bending came naturally to her. Cleo supposed it was martial arts, but to her, it felt like dancing, one moment leading to the next. It felt very natural to her.

The great bendings came very easily to her – it was the small things that had been hard, and she had gotten past those long ago. The only really hard thing was freezing and thawing water – and she had to be careful never to boil it, as you had to be a firebender to do that.

Cleo had eventually realized that her powers, her "stormbending", was something impossible here – It was a mix of waterbending, airbending and firebending. The latest also including the use of lightening. During her time at the South Pole, she had had stick to waterbending only. It had been hard, but it was worth it. She had much greater control of her powers now.

The other people of the water tribe considered her odd. They had from the beginning, when she showed up so badly dressed for cold, and her strange habits had made it worse. She never actually touched water, even though she was a waterbender. Also, she disappeared during full moons, often for a few days, and the came back acting as if nothing had happened. Strangely enough, there were always storms around the full moon, ever since she had gotten there.

But the training was over – Cleo had mastered waterbending, and it was time to leave. Still, she had one thing left to do – she had to tell Nema who she was. Then she could leave for the southern air temple – there she could learn to control her power over air. Her firebending wasn't really much to learn – she could boil water, start a small fire, and throw or redirect lightning. That was it.

_It is time…_

Besides, if she stayed much longer, someone would notice she wasn't really ageing. She guessed it had something to do with being from another world.

She had entered Nema's igloo.

"Nema"

"Yes, Cleo?"

"Well… I am leaving" Cleo said, slowly. "But I have something to show you first. Come with me."

"I'm coming, dear"

They left the village together, and once they were out of sight, Cleo turned to Nema.

"Splash some water in my face" she said.

"Ok…" Nema said slowly. She quickly did so.

After a few seconds, Cleo turned into a mermaid, as always.

"So that is your secret… I knew it was something big" Nema said. "I'm glad you decided to show me"

Cleo was relieved. "Thank you"

"You are thanking me? Why?"

"For not minding…" Cleo trailed off. "…And for teaching me"

"Of course I don't mind" Nema said. "You're still you. And you are a great pupil."

"There's one more thing, before I go" Cleo said. She the evaporated the water around her, turned back to being a girl, and stood up. Nema just looked curious.

"Goodbye, Nema" Cleo said. "I will never forget you"

She held out a bracelet of pearls to Nema.

"And I will always remember you, Cleo. You are one of the greatest waterbenders I have ever known." Nema stated, as she took the bracelet. "Goodbye"

"That's the thing, Nema" Cleo said, a bit unsure. "I'm not a waterbender… I'm a stormbender"

Then she started to dance, and a storm arose around her. Cleo danced out on the water, leaving Nema standing on the ice, gazing towards the horizon with an unreadable expression.

* * *

**_Autor's note:_**

I know I'm bad at updating, so do not expect those to be very regular - and the other stories of mine will probably be "dead" for a while.

Well... we'll see what happens...


	2. Chapter 2

_Forgot to put this in the first chapter: (still don't see why it's needed considering the site's name)_

_I do not own H2O: just add water, nor do I own Avatar: the last airbender._

* * *

After leaving Nema, she danced for days; she didn't want to think about it. Eventually, she had to stop; she had danced all the way to the mountain of the southern air temple, and it was time to climb up to it.

She danced onto the beach, but realized she needed some food for the climb, so she swam out at see to find some fish.

After eating a number of fishes, and catching a few to take with her, she dried off and started the hike.

An hour or so later, the sun started to set, so she decided to call it a day and sleep.

* * *

The next day she climbed all the way up the mountain. It wasn't easy, and without her crude skills with airbending, it would have been almost impossible. It was a good thing she wasn't afraid of heights.

When she got to the temple at the top, she was amazed by the size of it. It was a huge set of structures, and the effort taken to build them at the top of a mountain must have been huge – unless they had asked earthbenders to help them, of course… Come to think of it, they probably had.

After admiring the view for a while, she decided to walk to the temple, and ask for training. Hopefully, it would be as easy as it had been to get waterbending training.

As Cleo was about to enter the monastery, a bald kid in orange airbender clothes called out: "Hey! Who are you?"

He quickly came over to her, gliding on a ball of air.

"I'm Cleo" Cleo answered. "What's your name?"

"I'm Aang" the kid answered. He looked about 9 or so. "What are you doing here, Cleo?"

"I'm here looking for teaching" she said. "I wish to learn airbending"

"Really?" he said. "You're an airbender?"

She walked over to him and whispered conspiratorially. "Not a good one… yet"

He laughed. "Perhaps you can learn this, then…" he said. "Watch!"

He made a new ball of air, like the one he had been riding to get over to her, and jumped onto it. "Now you try it!"

She managed to make a ball, but it disappeared before she could jump onto it.

"You need to keep it going, Cleo" Aang said. "Don't let go of it!"

She tried again, and managed it. Steering it was another thing entirely, and she ran into a wall.

"Outch" she said, but then she laughed. "That was fun! Thank you, Aang"

"No problem!" He said. "Let's go meet the masters. You can ask them if they'll train you"

She was a little worried about that – she had heard most benders were male… "I hope they'll take me…"

"That shouldn't be too difficult" Aang stated. "You must be really good to pick up my ball trick that quickly. It isn't that easy to do…"

She was a little dumbstruck by that. Perhaps she was better at this than she'd thought?

* * *

Getting taken on by the airbending monks had been a bit more difficult that Aang had made it sound. In the end, Aang had persuaded his master, Gyatsu, to teach Cleo as well. That was fine by Cleo. Aang was a fun kid to be around, if a bit nosy sometimes. Then again, there was a lot Cleo wasn't saying. She hadn't told any of them were she came from, or anything about herself really.

Aang kept asking, but she never really answered. Sure, sometimes she gave some little thing away, but never anything important.

It had been a good few years at the air temple. She hadn't really made many friends – with exception Aang and Gyatsu, she was tolerated at best. When Aang was away for a time, it got a bit lonely. She had no idea what they thought about her disappearances around the full moon either… though she suspected that Gyatsu knew something. Still, those were easier here than they were with the waterbenders; here she could take her glider and fly down the mountain, and there was little or no risk of being seen during her storm dance.

At the moment, she was sitting on a cliff by the ocean, waiting for the full moon to rise. It would soon, and the night was free from clouds. She wouldn't dance for too long. She didn't want to raise to many questions, and made sure to stop dancing soon after the moon set.

* * *

The moon had set a short time earlier, and the sun was beginning to rise. She had just danced up a waterspout to get back on her cliff, and kneeled on the cliff. With a quick moment of the arms, she banished her storm out from land, letting the sun's rays fall on the cliffs. She was eerily calm after the dance, as she always was after ending it voluntarily.

After a few moments, she froze, for she heard a voice.

"That was impressive, Cleo!" It was Aang. "How did you do that? I thought only the avatar could bend more than one element, and that's supposed to be me…"

The monks had told Aang he was the avatar but a week ago. He was younger than was usual to be told, but there was a war brewing, so would have to be ready early.

Cleo was still shocked by Aang seeing her. _This wasn't supposed to happen!_

"Cleo? Are you alright?" Aang started to look a bit worried. "You look pale…"

"I… umm…" She panicked. "I must leave"

She jumped into the water.

"Cleo, wait!" Aang shouted after her. He then continued in a whisper: "You're the only friend I got left here, now that I'm the avatar…"

* * *

After a long panicked flight into the ocean, she acted much like she had after seeing Lewis give Charlotte the necklace Charlotte had taken from her. She raised a storm; not really dancing, but still creating a powerful, focused tornado of water, air and lightning. She just wanted to go home, and this was how she had gotten here.

Then again, she had no specifics on how to bend such a storm. She couldn't even be sure it was the storm at all; it might be something else that had transported her to this world.

She kept the insanely powerful storm going for almost half an hour; then one of her lightning bolts struck her, and she passed out.

* * *

She came to floating in the middle of the ocean. She had no idea were she was… and there was no land in sight. It reminded her of when she first crossed worlds... perhaps she was back in her own?

She swam for a while, and then spotted a fishing boat from the earth nation. Those ships she'd recognize anywhere; she'd seen so many of them. Then she wasn't in her own world. She felt her hopes being crushed. She would never be able to go back home… and Aang would probably not want to see her either, not after she ran off like that. Perhaps she could go back to Nema… No, she couldn't face Nema when she had shamed herself like this. She just couldn't.

_Well… I'll live like a wild mermaid again. I've done it before, and it isn't that hard… being a mermaid really gives you a taste for raw fish…_

Besides, the storm dance would grant her oblivion; she would rarely have to think about her wrongs and her shame.

* * *

Yet another couple of years had passed, and they had been much like the first ones she had spent in this world. She was, once again, the spirit of storms… At least, that was what she was called. She missed being Cleo. She missed it terribly. Perhaps she could go and see Nema… She wouldn't stay that long, but she wanted to feel human, just for a little while.

She swam south quickly, and in a few days time, she was in icy waters once more. It had been a long time since she had last been here… the years with Aang and the airbenders as well as those last as a mermaid.

_I wonder what has changed… Has Nema got a new apprentice, perhaps? Or maybe she got married? I wonder…_

As she looked at the place the village was supposed to be, she was quickly shocked out of her thoughts.

It wasn't there. It was simply… gone.

The only thing left was a bit of one of the walls.

As Cleo got close she spotted a fire nation helmet… and under the water, there was a sunken fire navy ship.

_No… the war, the one the monks feared… it broke out. _

Cleo knew where most of the villages where supposed to be. She'd just have to check all of them. Surely, Nema must be in one of them… Wouldn't she?

* * *

Most of the villages where gone – but eventually she found one that was intact.

But the tribe she had found wouldn't let her enter. She wasn't dressed like any people the knew – and they assumed she was a fire nation spy. But the short exchange of words broke her spirit further.

She asked for Nema – Nema was gone, dead or captured.

Then she asked for the rest of the village she had known – they were all gone.

She asked why there were no airbenders helping them, where the avatar was, and so on. The airbenders were totally wiped out – dead to the last woman and child. And the avatar, Aang, had vanished just before the war – on the very eve of her own mad flight from him.

He just might have gone after her, and gotten in trouble somehow.

_It was all her fault._

If she had been there for him, he'd been fine.

If she'd stayed with the airbenders, perhaps they wouldn't have been wiped out.

If she'd gone to Nema, she could have saved her – if not the whole village…

She didn't really want to prove she was a waterbender to the tribe – why would she? She only seemed to bring death and destruction to everyone she knew. And if she didn't, they betrayed her, like Lewis did…

_Lewis…_

She had run from the tribe, dancing before she even came to the edge of the ice.

As she and the storm she raised, they whispered.

"The spirit of storms… She knew Nema"

"The storm spirit was here, in human guise…"

"Did you see how distraught it was? It just might make the fire nation pay for what they've done…"

* * *

She danced for a long time, before she, for the first time bending the storms, gave in to exhaustion. After the second full moon since she got the news from the water tribe, she stopped dancing – She was very tired, and stumbled. It broke the spell, and she fell into the water, falling asleep as she turned into a mermaid.

Her sleep was restless, and she dreamt of how the fire nation destroyed all she cared about – even her own world.

When she woke up, her mind was made up. She wowed revenge on the firebenders for Nema, Aang, Gyatsu, and all the others they had killed. They would pay – the spirit of the storms would make them pay…

* * *

Cleo spent years fighting the fire nation; their soldiers feared her greatly, but in the end, it was a futile effort. The fire nation decimated what was left of the southern water tribes completely. No matter how many ships she sunk with her storms, she couldn't be everywhere at the same time. The same went for the waterbenders; the fire nation warriors were just too many.

When the fire navy left, there were just a few villages and warriors left of the once strong and proud southern water tribes – and their benders were all gone. The few tribespeople that had survived had hidden away, and hidden well. The fire nation would have a hard time finding them. Even if they did, there was no real point of doing so. The South Pole was no longer any sort of threat against the fire nation.

Cleo knew she had failed. She had only managed to delay the inevitable. She knew she probably was the most versatile bender on the planet now that the avatar was gone – there had been no known avatar born to the water tribes, so either Aang was somehow still alive or, more likely, the avatar after him had been killed and there was now young earth kingdom avatar out there.

Cleo was sitting on a block of ice, waiting for the full moon to rise. She had nothing to live for now – she lacked purpose. She was going to give in to the moon sickness completely. She wasn't welcome anywhere as who she truly was, and as a wild mermaid, she wouldn't mind the fact. She expected her storm dances would still be danced – after all, the pull of the dance was irresistible under the moon. Being who she was, she would probably keep sinking fire navy ships – and save drowning people.

But she wasn't truly sure of that, nor did it matter anymore.

As to moon begun to rise into the sky, Cleo whispered softly:

"I have nothing left to loose but my grief… Grant me oblivion, oh moon…"

She knew no more… for a very long time.

**_

* * *

_**

Autor's note:

While I realize not too many will be reading this story (both series are rather new and not very well known) I still appretiate reviwes, thank you very much!

How else am I supposed to know what you think about it?


	3. Chapter 3

Almost ninety years later, an old retired general though he saw some large orange fish in the water. Being curious, he decided to try and catch it. First he tried a fishing rod – he didn't expect it to work, and it didn't. He decided to try a different method: All creatures came to the hand that fed them, so he would give the orange fish some food. Then he might get to see what it was…

It would most likely eat small fishes… most large fish did.

Said and done. Iroh started to put out a fish a bit over the water at the back of the ship every night.

In the morning, it was always gone… and often he'd see a glimpse of orange in the vicinity of the ship. Whatever this animal was, it was quite bright – it had understood what he was doing after the first time he'd put out food for it. That only made him more interested in it. Whatever could it be?

After a few weeks, he decided to stay up, watching the food he put out. That night the fish wasn't taken. He decided to be up on the ship and sleep, instead of watching – and when he woke up, the offering was gone. A few days later, he decided to watch the fish he put out, and when he saw a glimpse of orange, he looked away. When he didn't look, they fish he put out was taken.

And one night, he saw an orange tail in the water. He was now sure it was a fish, and it was getting less and less afraid of him.

A few nights later the bait was taken when he was looking… but he didn't see a fish. No, instead a single arm came out of the water, grabbing the fish. An ordinary, _human_ arm!

He had never heard of such a creature, not even a rumour or a myth. What could it be?

* * *

The next night was a full moon – and the whatever-it-was didn't show up. He tried to look away for awhile, but the bait was there, and there wasn't a single sign of the creature…

Iroh though it might have tired of him. Still the next night, he threw a fish towards the water – and out of the ocean jumped a girl with a fish's tail, grabbing the fish and landing in the water again. She then proceeded to bite down on the fish, and quickly devoured it.

Iroh was amazed. He had never seen such a creature. He wondered if it… no, she was definitely a female… if she could waterbend. True, the moon was considered the first waterbender, as the badgermoles were the first earthbenders, the dragons the firebenders, and the flying bison the airbenders… He had always thought it odd that there was no such creature that bent water. Perhaps he had found it? But then again, why was it not even whispered of? Could these creatures be that rare?

A few nights later, he decided to ask her. If she was as bright as she seemed, she just might understand him.

"Can you waterbend, my dear?" He asked.

She giggled, and swallowed the last of her fish. This was when she usually disappeared back into the water. This night, she nodded instead.

"Could you show me?" Iroh asked calmly. "I would love to see you do it."

The girl smiled, and made a raising motion with her arm. The part of the water she was floating in raised her into the air, putting her face to face with Iroh.

"Amazing…" he whispered. "It's like there's no effort at all… So natural… and powerful"

She giggled, but as a door slammed open on the ship, she was startled. Iroh blinked, and when he looked again, she was gone.

"What are you doing out here in the cold, uncle?"

It was Zuko, his nephew, the banished prince. When would he truly understand his father didn't want him back, with or without the avatar? Hopefully before it was too late…

"Just getting a breath of fresh air…" he answered absentmindly. "It has become a habit of lately…"

"You should come in" Zuko stated. "You might get sick"

"You're right, of course" Iroh said. Before going back in, he looked out at see, and whispered:

"I hope you come back…"

* * *

Iroh needn't worry. His kind behaviour had touched some small part of humanity Cleo still possessed, and she often came to him for food, as well as to listen to his troubles.

He suspected there was more to her that it seemed, and wondered if she really couldn't talk. She always understood what he said, and was a patient listener, but no matter how he tried, she wouldn't say a word. She answered to yes-or-no questions though – by nodding or shaking her head.

He hadn't managed to find out much about her though, but he knew she was unique. If he'd understood her correctly, there had once been a few more like her, but there weren't anymore.

He also thought her older than she looked. That assumption was backed up by the fact that she hadn't aged a day since he first met her – though it might be a little early to say so, as he'd only known her for a few years.

He suspected she might not be a creature, but a spirit… the spirit of storms, to be exact. When she disappeared, usually around the full moon, he often saw a storm far away – and it wasn't uncommon that there was a sunken ship by the end of it.

Still, the storms had never neared their own ship – the spirit was always close, but never attacked them. The weather was unusually nice as well… and he had almost panicked when he realized who she just might be.

Still, he had considered if it was the other way around. She didn't act like a spirit, but waterbending came so easily to her, she just made be able to raise storms… the storm spirit might be a girlfish instead of a spirit. His girlfish, to be precise.

He had seen her last night – but she had seemed unusually restless ever since they'd entered the ice-filled waters of the south… Perhaps something was going to happen?

The thought was proven right, as a huge light beam in the sky, beginning somewhere far out of sight. Zuko was naturally very excited, and gave order to set a course towards it. Personally, Iroh thought it unlikely that the avatar would be that reckless, but he didn't say that. He did mention it could be something else – but not that he would sooner suspect his girlfish, than the avatar…

* * *

The huge burst of energy almost shocked Cleo out of her mermaidish state. For a brief moment, her mind was her own, but then she lost it again. Her surrender to the moon was still too complete… it would take something much greater to break its hold over her.

Still the mermaid was curios. She quickly found the source of the energy – a boy that seemed strangely familiar… He reminded her of the old man that gave her such delicious fishes… Perhaps the boy would give her food? No, it was too risky. He wasn't alone – there were others with him as well… and he travelled on some beast, which might be dangerous.

She'd have to wait, and see what would happen.

* * *

Iroh had been surprised that the avatar was still a kid. It was as if time had stood still for him a hundred years… and his skills were that bad as well. The boy seemed to know nothing but airbending!

He suspected the girlfish to have something to do with it, but when he asked her that night, she denied it. He had to accept that as the truth; he hadn't ever known her to lie. He didn't really think she actually could. There was something innocent in her demeanour, which made her seem but a kid, despite the power he knew was buried within her.

This night though, he had seen an odd flicker of intelligence in her eyes, as if there were a little bit more to her that there used to be.

Perhaps he was just imagining things…

* * *

Iroh didn't see Cleo again until they failed to catch the avatar at Kyoshi Island. She had tried to catch up with the avatar, and had arrived there a day or so before Zuko's ship. In fact, she had almost saved Aang from being eaten; in the end, Katara had bended them out of the way before the mermaid could decide what to do… the fear of discovery was still strong in her.

Iroh was glad to see her again afterwards. He had missed her the days when she had been gone. She was always listening to the stories of his life – the good as well as the bad. Once, he had even mentioned that there were dragons still alive, but he quickly remembered his promise not to talk of them, and changed the subject.

He was now resting in a hot spring he had found. He still had a while before his nephew would come back.

Of course, that was the moment the earthbenders showed up.

* * *

Cleo immediately realized something was wrong. Something bad had happened to the nice old man – and he was in need of help. She quickly swam to the beach, airbent herself dry, and ran into the forest.

She found the spring just as Zuko left it to follow the earthbenders.

She easily kept up with him, using airbending, and when he freed Iroh, she attacked.

Zuko and Iroh never had to fight – Cleo was defeating the few earthbenders all by herself.

She seemed to conjure water from nothing – soon the entire place was soaked, and the earthbenders quickly fled. The only one dry was Cleo, and she stopped her dancing. It hadn't been a dance of storms, but one just of water. Iroh realized who she was almost immediately. Zuko, on the other hand, was too shocked to act.

Iroh thanked her quietly, and as he started to walk, she fell in half a step behind him.

"You coming, Zuko?"

Zuko just nodded, not trusting his voice at the moment. After all, it isn't every day a firebender is rescued from earthbenders by a powerful waterbender, is it?

* * *

Zuko was confused. Who was this powerful waterbender, and how did uncle Iroh know her? He had never mentioned her, and she was much too young to be an old acquaintance. Besides, he seemed quite used to her silent company.

That was odd as well. She had not said a word, not uttered a sound, during the entire trip back to their ship. Uncle had been unusually quite as well, but now he was talking as much as he usually did – but to her, not to him.

He interrupted his uncle's musings as the tea was ready.

"Uncle, who is this waterbender? Why did she help you?"

His uncle poured himself and the girl tea before answering. "Ah… This is no mere waterbender, Zuko." Iroh looked the girl in the eyes, as he continued. "This is the spirit of storms, and for some reason, she seems to favour me."

* * *

Iroh was quite certain his nephew would assume she was a spirit, not a waterbender, when he told him some of who she was. He was less sure of how she would take the revelation – he had never mentioned his suspicions to her. He wasn't really sure she wasn't a spirit. How else had she been able to shift forms? She looked like an ordinary human now, and apart from her strange attire of worn, foreign clothes, pearls, shells and other little things from the ocean, she could have passed as an ordinary girl of pretty much any nation – though he'd probably had pegged her as from the earth kingdom, due to her brown eyes and hair.

Still, he knew she was no earthbender – she had to be a powerful waterbender, or a spirit, the latter being more likely that he'd thought. Either way, she probably wasn't human, even if she looked it right now.

His nephew had reacted just as he thought he would.

"The spirit of storms? And just how long have you been keeping this a secret?" Zuko looked angry about being out of the loop.

"Since I met her, of course" Iroh answered calmly. "I hadn't even told her I knew who she was"

The girl herself was looking at Iroh with huge eyes. She was shocked he had figured out who she was, and that he told Zuko just like that. He knew she wanted to be as unknown as possible…

"How long will she be staying?" Zuko asked. "I don't want the ship damaged by any storm."

"She can stay as long as she likes" Iroh answered. "She's been around for the most part of the last years, and we haven't had any major storms hitting our ship… she wouldn't do that to us."

Zuko shouted angrily and went out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

When he had left, Iroh addressed the girl.

"You know, that was the best way of making he leave you alone. Now he thinks you're a spirit, and likely won't bother you at all, in fear of you raising a storm."

She nodded, understanding his point immediately. She seemed much brighter that usual… how odd.

When they had sat there for a while, drinking their tea, Iroh offered:

"You know, if you ever want to tell me anything, I'm all ears."

She nodded, and smiled at him. He took that as a good sign.

"Now, why don't we get you some more ordinary clothes – it would be much easier to be unnoticed by the crew if you looked as if you were from the fire nation…"

* * *

After finding her some clothes – they as good a fit as they could've been, but they would do – Iroh realized that he still had no idea what to call her. Girlfish wasn't really an appropriate name – especially when she looked human now. He asked her if he could give her a name. When she nodded, he thought hard, and proposed:

"Chiyoko?"

She seemed to think about it.

"I thought it might be appropriate…" Iroh said, a bit uncertain. He didn't want to lose her over a name. That was why he had never tried to name her before.

Thankfully, she seemed to decide that she liked it, as she nodded, and smiled at him again.

"Well, Chiyoko" Iroh said. "As I said to my nephew before, you can stay as long as you like." As an afterthought he added mischievously: "You just have to try the cooked fish. I find it much better than the raw one…"

* * *

The crew had taken well to the odd, silent girl. When they got no explanation of her presence, they had decided she was some distant relative of Iroh, and treated her as such. That she was quite pleasant to be around made things even easier. The strange sense of innocence that lined her every action made her seem young, and she was treated with an oversight similar to that of a kid.

The only one that didn't really like her was Zuko. After what his uncle had said, he was weary of her – he couldn't understand her, and to him, that made her unpredictable. The reputation of the storm spirit was bad in the fire nation – she had been destroying their ships long before he was born. He kept expecting her to destroy the ship, but she never did.

When they chased the avatar to the crescent island, she had come along. As soon as the avatar's bison could be seen, she had stood there, gazing towards it. This made Iroh wonder – if she was a spirit, it could be explained by the fact that the avatar was the bridge between this world and hers. If she wasn't, he was quite unsure what that meant… Could she be familiar with him somehow?

She stayed with them for the next few weeks, but as the next full moon drew closer, she started to seem restless, and the day before the full moon, she was gone.

Iroh gave the crew no explanation, and they made one wild guess after another. Zuko seemed relieved, but when Iroh said it would storm, he stared at Iroh with a gaze that said: "What do you know?" When he shook his head, and said he felt it in his joints, Zuko disregarded the advice to seek shelter.

Half a week later, Shiyoko was back in the morning. Once again, there was no explanation, and the crew came up with a lot of strange theories to explain the time she was gone – as well as why it had stormed the day she had left… A few of the ideas even came a little bit too close to the truth for Iroh's comfort.

* * *

About two weeks later, General Zhao commandeered the crew – when Iroh left the ship, Shiyoko went with him. He was used to her now – she might still be a mystery, as he still had no idea what she was. It didn't matter. To him, she was a lovable niece, no matter what she was.

When the ship exploded, he was too distraught to act. Shiyoko sensed his panic and concern for Zuko, and jumped into the water. A girlfish once again, she put Zuko on the dock by him. After explaining what he would do, he asked her to stay away from the fire nation navy for a while – if she really wanted to, she could go to the North Pole and wait until this was over.

She didn't seem to like it, but agreed when she said it was for her own safety.

As she swam away in the sunset, Iroh realized he already missed her. It would be lonely without her.

* * *

_Autor's note:_

_It's nice to see a few people actually like the story. I'm especially glad two of you even left reviews. __Thanks!_

_The next chapter might be a while, as it isn't finished yet. I hope you don't mind too much..._


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